Key Feature Comparison
1. Automation and AI
Zendesk: Zendesk shines in its ability to automate complex workflows and repetitive tasks
through its AI-powered tools like Answer Bot. Answer Bot can automatically suggest
relevant help articles or route tickets to the right agents, reducing response times and
freeing up your support team for more complex issues. Zendesk’s automation capabilities
also extend to setting up triggers, automating task assignments, and handling customer
inquiries across different channels seamlessly.
Gladly: Gladly takes a more conversational approach to automation. Its Hero AI helps
agents by offering AI-powered suggestions in real time, improving response speed and
accuracy. Additionally, Gladly’s Sidekick feature automates repetitive tasks and
provides context-aware information to agents as they interact with customers. This makes
the platform particularly useful for companies that want to maintain the human touch
while automating basic interactions.
Comparison: While Zendesk offers more robust automation workflows and
ticket routing powered by Answer Bot, Gladly’s Hero AI and Sidekick are designed to
enhance live agent productivity without losing the personal connection, focusing more on
assisted conversations than full automation.
2. Multichannel Support
Zendesk: Zendesk offers comprehensive multichannel support, allowing businesses to engage
with customers through email, chat, phone, SMS, and social media. The platform
centralizes all these channels into one interface, making it easier for agents to manage
and respond to inquiries. It also allows for seamless transitions between channels,
ensuring that no customer gets left behind, regardless of how they choose to
communicate.
Gladly: Gladly’s approach to multichannel support is native, meaning it doesn’t rely on
third-party integrations for channels like voice, chat, SMS, email, or social media.
Gladly ensures that all interactions from any channel appear in a single conversation
thread, giving agents a complete view of the customer journey. This makes it easier to
provide personalized service without switching between systems.
Comparison: Both platforms offer excellent multichannel support, but
Zendesk integrates more external channels through third-party tools, while Gladly
natively supports all channels and unifies them into a single conversation thread,
providing a more cohesive customer experience.
3. Customer-Centric Design
Zendesk: Zendesk operates with a ticket-based system, where customer interactions are
segmented into individual tickets. While it provides detailed customer profiles and a
history of interactions, the system is structured around resolving tickets efficiently
rather than focusing on the full customer journey. This model works well for businesses
handling high volumes of inquiries, where ticket resolution speed is key.
Gladly: In contrast, Gladly puts the customer at the center of its design. Instead of
treating each inquiry as a ticket, it treats every conversation as part of a larger
relationship. All interactions—whether via phone, chat, or social media—are consolidated
into a single unified conversation thread, giving agents a 360-degree view of the
customer’s history. This helps agents provide a more personalized experience and builds
stronger relationships over time.
Comparison: Gladly’s customer-centric approach stands out here, offering
a more personalized, holistic view of the customer journey compared to Zendesk’s
ticket-focused model, which emphasizes efficiency and structure over personalization.
4. Reporting and Analytics
Zendesk: Zendesk offers advanced reporting and analytics, giving businesses the ability
to track performance metrics across multiple channels and agents. With customizable
dashboards, companies can view real-time insights into customer satisfaction, response
times, ticket volumes, and agent performance. Zendesk’s analytics can be tailored to
suit specific business needs, making it an ideal tool for data-driven
decision-making.
Gladly: Gladly provides real-time reporting that focuses on agent performance, customer
interactions, and service levels. While its reporting capabilities aren’t as extensive
as Zendesk’s, Gladly emphasizes metrics that improve customer satisfaction and agent
productivity. The platform allows businesses to track the entire customer journey,
providing insights into how customer relationships evolve over time.
Comparison: Zendesk offers more in-depth, customizable analytics across
multiple channels, making it ideal for data-heavy businesses. Gladly, on the other hand,
emphasizes tracking the customer experience, which is more aligned with businesses that
prioritize relationship-building over operational efficiency.
5. Team Management
Zendesk: Zendesk gives businesses robust tools for team management, including workload
balancing, role-based permissions, and agent performance tracking. Managers can easily
assign tasks, monitor productivity, and set up automated workflows that ensure agents
are working efficiently across multiple channels. For teams handling a high volume of
inquiries, Zendesk’s team management tools are invaluable for maintaining order and
consistency.
Gladly: Gladly’s team management features are focused on giving agents the tools they
need to deliver personalized service. The platform offers role-based permissions, team
roles, and agent shift management, but its standout feature is how it empowers agents
with the context they need to help customers without having to transfer or escalate
issues. Managers can easily track agent performance and optimize their workflows for
more effective customer interactions.
Comparison: While Zendesk excels in managing large teams and high-volume
inquiries with advanced team management tools, Gladly focuses on giving agents the
resources they need to provide personalized, customer-centric service.
